


After The Endgame

by Bolt41319



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen, Marvel Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2020-03-20 07:19:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18987910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bolt41319/pseuds/Bolt41319
Summary: After all of the evil has finally fallen quiet in Storybrooke, Regina and Robin believe that they can finally settle down and find their own happy ending, until the unimaginable happens and the few who are left have to pick up the scattered pieces.Written for Monday of OQ Prompt Party #24This will end happy, I promise





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt Party #24. MCU AU: Either Robin or Regina gets taken in the Thanos snap. Bonus points if you also wipe out one or more of the kids for maximum angst.

It’s such a beautiful day in the park. 

The sun is shining down on them, clouds floating lazily through the sky. Roland and Henry had insisted that they go out as a family, that they wanted to show their new puppy the park that he would grow up playing in. It started as a joke a few months before, the boys leaving pictures of little labrador puppies around the house. They walked past the humane society building everyday on their way to school, and before she knew it Robin was in on their ploy, and there was a new member of their family. 

Quill was rambunctious, to say the least. He was a little ball of energy, didn’t quite know how to use his legs yet, so they had decided to spend their Saturday training him. 

Regina and Robin were posted up on a blanket in the grass, watching as the boys chased Quill in circles, rolling around in the grass so the puppy could practice climbing over them. Their afternoon was too perfect. The town had finally been safe for the past few months, no more ridiculous villains or evil demons coming after them, and she had turned her focus from the town to her family and the shining, perfect diamond on her finger. 

Married. 

No more villains, no more evil forces rushing to take over the town, to break up their happiness. 

She was practically giddy with joy at the thought of spending the rest of her life with him. It was something that they had discussed before, that the bond of marriage wasn’t something that had always been a positive for both of them— she, with her sham marriage to Leopold and Robin, who had experienced heartbreak in his marriage to Marian. They had considered not getting married at all. They didn’t necessarily need the rings and the whole wedding scene at all, not to know that they love one another, but when Robin had proposed, all of that uncertainty went out the window and she was thrilled at the thought of white dresses and bow ties. 

Robin’s proposal was beautiful. He had taken her out to the camp, set up candles and quietly asked her to take his name, to become his wife. Without hesitation she said yes, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him soundly. 

It was perfect. Everything had been so, wonderfully perfect, and though she was overjoyed at the thought of the future their lives held, she had the impending feeling that it was only fair that something would go wrong, sooner or later. 

“We should throw an engagement party,” Robin starts, his arm sneaking around her hip to squeeze at her waist. 

“Really?  _ You _ want to throw a party? It doesn’t seem like your kind of style.” 

He shrugs, leans over and presses a soft kiss to her jaw. “It might be a fun change. I know that being around a lot of people isn’t really my thing—” 

“You lived in the woods,” Regina cuts in, grinning at him as he pretends to be offended. She leans up and kisses him and he smiles into their kiss, cupping her cheek and holding her lips to his. 

“I want to celebrate,” he continues when he breaks their kiss. “Let all of our friends and family see how happy we are. You deserve happiness, Regina, and I want to give it to you, in any way that I can.” 

She leans up and kisses him again, settles against his warm chest and looks out back on the park. She eyes Roland as he scoops the puppy up into his arms, scratching Quill’s head as he and Henry come back toward them. “I am happy. This—you, the boys, this is what makes me happy. I don’t need some parade to tell everyone our business. I’ve got everything I need, right here.” Regina leans over and presses a slow kiss to his lips, her hand coming up to cup his jaw. 

He feels funny. 

She pulls back, her hand resting against air. He’s there, still in front of her but she can’t feel him, like his skin is slowly slipping away. 

“R—Robin?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t—” he panics, his eyes frantically searching. He’s trying to stand, to do something…  _ anything,  _ but his body is slowly melting away, fading into thin particles of dust. 

“Henry, he’s—” Robin chokes out, the remnants of his arm lifting to point across the field and she turns her head, immediately spots her son, whose body is crumbling just as Robin’s is before her. 

No, no, oh god no. 

“Henry!” she cries out, darting across the grass. She trips, throws herself across the field and scrambles the best she can, her arms come out to collect her terrified looking son, his eyes meeting hers. 

“Mom,” he chokes out, his voice wavering. “I— I don’t know what’s happening. Everything feels all light.” 

“Henry, Henry no, oh god,” she gasps, her heart cracking. She hears Roland’s cry for his Papa and turns her head for a mere second, sees her other son on his knees in front of his father's crumbling body. Roland’s chest is heaving, she can see it from here, but he’s not fading. 

“Mom,” he cries, bringing his own hands up in front of him, his fingers whisking away with a sweep of wind. “I don’t feel so good.” 

Her magic is pulsing in her palms, hues of purple and silver swirling but nothing is happening. She tries to center her thoughts, to calm the rapid beating of her heart, to channel something,  _ anything _ but fuck, nothing is working. Why is nothing working? 

“Shit!” She yells, looking back up at her son, trying to memorize the lines of his face. “I’ll fix this, I promise. I love you so much baby, don’t worry. This will all be better, I promise.” 

“Mom, love—” Henry gets out before a gust of wind comes, and her son’s body vanishes before her. 

She’s numb, her mind pulsing with grief and anxiety, her heart clenching as she tries to catch her breath, to tamp down the wave of panic and vomit that threaten their way up her throat. She’s pulled right back out of it though when she hears a scream and turns back to Roland, who is reaching out against Robin’s disappearing body. 

Her feet carry her before her mind can catch up, collapsing next to Roland. “Robin, honey,” she gasps out. Her magic is fierce in her palms but she still can’t fix it, doesn’t know where to begin, can’t think of what spell is making her family disappear. “I love you, I love you so much. I’ll fix this, there’s got to be a way.” 

Robin’s eyes dart between hers and Roland’s, his ability to speak wiped out as he continues to disappear, but she knows. She can see the fear in his eyes as he pointedly looks to Roland, then back at her again. The look he gives her speaks thousands and she nods, the tears collecting in her eyes, falling down in streams against her cheeks. 

With one final gust of wind he’s wiped away, her soulmate and her son gone, her heart shattering into a thousand pieces. 

“Papa, Henry,” Roland cries, throwing himself against her, burying himself into her body, clambering up into her arms and against her chest. “Regina, what’s going on?” 

“I don’t know darling,” she chokes out, her arms coming around him. She presses a kiss to the top of his head and rocks him in her arms, feels the soft fur of the puppy clambering up into just as Roland had done moments ago. 

She can’t feel anything but the ache in her heart, the pain shredding it’s way through her chest, shattering her into a million little pieces. She holds Roland tighter, trying to catch her breath, anything to make her feel like she’s alive, like there’s a point worth living. 

.::.

Half of the population is gone. 

Storybrooke feels empty. She and Roland are among the few to survive the “snap”, as the news has taken to calling it. A madman convinced that eliminating half of the population would cause those who survived to thrive in a world with abundant resources, though those left behind were more shaken with grief and heartbreak than anything else. She’s working through her grief day by day, though it’s still strong, still keeps her up at night. As mayor of the town she’s taken to organizing who disappeared, but new names still come up daily, adding to the list set up in the town square. 

Within their immediate family Charming is gone, along with Ruby and Gold. Most of the fairies are gone, much to her dismay, as with their disappearance and Golds, she’s at a loss for how to fix this on her own. She will fix this though, she will bring back her son and her fiancé. 

Mary Margaret has taken their being alive the hardest. They called it survivors guilt and unfortunately, Mary Margaret had it the worst out of all of them. She still had Emma though, but Emma had lost Hook, and her precious daughter was broken without her pirate. The two of them weren’t much help to start, keeping more to themselves, focusing on raising baby Neil and cooping themselves up in the apartment. 

Archie had disappeared as well, so Doc had taken over as the towns therapist. He’d adopted Pongo as his own, setting up meetings and group therapy sessions for the people in town who had the same effects as Mary Margaret had, to allow people to grieve without having to be alone.

She and Roland had each other, though Robin and Henry’s disappearance had broken them both. 

Roland spent almost all of his time with her, every second, whether awake or asleep. Before his disappearance, Robin had told her all about Roland’s childhood, about how as a little boy he’d feared death. He would cower from the Merry Men’s stories of battles with unhappy endings, and the trauma of watching his father and brother disappear before his eyes had made his anxiety even worse. The few rare times he had slept alone since the snap, she would hear him thrashing in his sleep, his whimpers echoing through the hallways of their empty home. 

Their lives felt like Groundhog Day. Every morning they woke and ate a quiet breakfast. She went to work, while Roland went to Storybrooke Elementary. With half the teachers and children gone classes were smaller, and the school day was split into sections so they could cover each grade level. First grade went in the morning, so Regina would pick Roland up and take him back to her office and he would quietly play with Quill while she worked to put back together the broken pieces of their town. 

He’d grown quiet over the past few months, since they watched their family slip away with the wind. Her rambunctious, excited little boy was more quiet and reserved, chose to spend time with his dog and away from most of the people who would approach him. He was always drawing though, pictures of Robin and Henry and their times before they disappeared, and often of other times too, that Regina couldn’t quite remember. 

It was another day in her office, three months after the disappearance, when Roland finally spoke more than just a few, acknowledging words. 

Head spent the afternoon sitting under her desk, propped up against the back frame with Quill curled in a little ball in his lap. “Regina, where do you think they went?” 

“What?” she asks, absentmindedly sketching the plans for a memorial they want to put up in the town. 

“Papa and Henry… where did they go? The people at school keep saying that they’re dead. And that man on the TV said that everyone who went away in Thanos’ snap will never come back, but I think they’re alive. I felt it when Mama died. My heart hurt so much when she died, but when Papa and Henry disappeared, I didn’t feel the same. I miss them a whole lot, but I don’t think they’re gone. It’s like they’re still there a little bit. I hear Papa laughing, and Henry telling me stories.” 

Regina’s scooted back in her chair and she stares at him quietly, his words sinking in. She slips out of her chair and collects herself on the floor, curls her legs beneath her and scoops him into her lap, with Quill carefully tucked against them. “What’s brought this on Roland?” she asks, her arms coming around him as she presses a kiss to the top of his head. 

“Don’t you feel it too?” he asks, snuggling into her. “Papa said that when we die, our souls go somewhere special. That we can come back to see our family, but it doesn’t feel that way when Papa says ‘hi’. When I hear from Mama, it’s like she’s not there. I feel her in all the flowers, and the birds, and when the trees blow. But with Papa, I can hear him. It’s like he’s whispering to me, trying to tell me something.” He grows quiet, letting out a contented sigh as his hand trails over Quill’s head. 

She can feel her heart grow heavier and she tightens her arms around him, scratching her nails lightly against Quill’s back. She feels it though, exactly what he means. The loss of Daniel had felt permanent and real. But now, it’s not that same, soul crushing anguish she’d felt. It had made her feel guilty all this time, kept her up late into the night thinking that there was something wrong with her. But she can see it though, knows exactly what Roland’s saying. It’s not the same with Robin and Henry, that she can’t grieve them because it doesn’t feel like they’re actually  _ gone,  _ just on a trip somewhere. “I know what you mean,” she whispers, her voice wavering. “It’s like they’re asking for help.”

“Yeah,” Roland agrees, shifting to turn and look up at her. “What if we try and find them?” 

She can’t, won’t put Roland in any type of danger, and if this Thanos is as powerful as they say, there’s no true way she could win on her own and she’ll be damned if Roland loses another parent at the hands of a villain. She starts to tell him that, that she loves him too much to put him in harm's way, but he shakes his head and shifts in her arms.

“Papa and Henry need our help. You said so. You feel it too.” 

“I do darling, but it’s not that easy. There’s so much involved in bringing someone back from the dead—” 

“They’re not dead though!” He yells, and Regina can see the tears that threaten to fall. “Please don’t say no. Just think first.” 

“I’ll think on it,” she promises, kissing the top of his head. 

.::.

She can’t stop thinking about it. 

Rolands right, he always is, her smart little boy. There is something extremely off about Robin and Henry’s disappearance—not death, she can’t call it a death. Because Roland’s right, it doesn’t feel like they’re dead, just gone. Lost somewhere to the winds, with no semblance of returning any time soon. 

It drives her awake each night, tossing and turning, imagining where they might be, what they might be doing. There’s been dreams where they come to her, talk with her, and while she’s thought there were just memories, the realization that they’re not quite dead makes the dreams feel more real. The whole situation makes her uncomfortable and upset, her anxiety swirling through her mind, keeping her distracted from what little work she’s been doing throughout the day. There’s got to be a way to bring them back, some sort of sign or ploy she can use to bring her fiance and her son back to her. 

There’s a group of people that she’s heard about, these so called ‘heroes’ that lost to Thanos in the first place. The ‘Avengers’, with their own pictures plastered over the news, no hope of their return anytime soon either. The news has reported them as missing, a good portion of them lost to the snap, the others holed up in their misery at the loss they’ve suffered. The whole world has shifted in the six months that everyone has been gone, and while their grief is still strong, still looming over their every decision, she can feel her own grief turning slowly into vengeance. 

She finds herself spending late nights in her vault, Roland curled up asleep with Quill on the little bed she’s created for them. They spend time there night after night, while Regina pours over old spell books, trying desperately to find a way to get them out. 

Mary Margaret has been her rock in the past month, agreeing wholeheartedly that she feels it too, that there is no way that David is actually gone. Regina trusts her and her odd connection with her husband. They’d always been a little off, knowing entirely too much about one another's lives, so when she went to Mary Margaret and explained Roland’s theory, her step-daughter burst into tears and insisted that they were correct. 

There were so many books she had to go through, piled together and in groups of articles that Roland had been cutting out of newspapers, about Thanos and the heroes that couldn’t stop this from happening. Each late night breaks her down even more, her lack of sleep and improper eating taking a crushing toll on her body. The breakdowns are coming more and more frequently, taking her over at inopportune times, bringing the tears out and making her fall to her knees. 

There’s one night where she contemplates the worst, the memory potion that she had given herself so long ago, to wipe out their memories of Henry and Robin. It breaks her heart that she’s even considering it, letting herself hands through the motions of mixing the potion together, the vile liquids swirling around in a concoction of reds and greens. Roland deserves better than the heartbreak he has each day, the tears she can hear coming from his bedroom each night. Forgetting would be so  _ easy,  _ to just put it all behind them, to just accept that they’re actually gone and there’s nothing she’ll be able to do about it. 

She stares at the potion night after night, thinking of all of the ways that she can just mix it into turnovers and they can eat them for dessert, drift off into a peaceful slumber and wake up the next morning… happy. A life not filled with heartache and villains, one with just her and Roland, in a new land, with a newly built outlook on life. 

It wouldn’t be true happiness though, she knows that. There would be an awful lingering feeling within them and she wouldn’t know what it was, or how to put it at bay. Her true loves kiss would be lost forever and she would be trapped in a lie too painful to face. 

She takes the potion and finally pours it down the drain a week later, incinterating the vile in her palm, watching as the glass slowly melts, disintegrating into tiny shards of glass before, disappearing entirely. 

No, she can’t let them down this way. She can’t give up and make them live out the rest of their lives in another unknown realm, lost to their friends and family forever.. She loves them far too much to do that, and so she decides that Operation Endgame is on. She needs to be strong, needs to overcome whatever grief she feels and go about this how she should have been since they disappeared. 

It takes a villain to think like a villain, and if that’s what she needs to do, then so be it. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines Day @robinlocksleys! Sorry this took me 5ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI THERE! Before you follow through into chapter two, it'd be your best interest to go back and re-read chapter 1! I've edited it (a lot) and while it's still the same plot, it's got some pretty decent updates. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Also, I've taken some liberties to the MCU verse (because I could).

New York. 

It’s not quite as vivacious as she remembers. The city that never sleeps seems cold and drab, lifeless compared to how it once was before half of the population disappeared. 

Roland’s asleep, her little monkey draped against the plane of her back, his head resting on her shoulder, soft snores echoing in her ears. The stars are shining in the night sky, though they can’t see them over the bright lights twinkling overhead. They’re headed for the apartment— she had always intended on selling it, but it had slipped her mind more than once, and she is now grateful that she still held onto the dingey place she’s swindled from Gold. It is to be their safe-haven now; their place for her and Roland to spend their time, away from Storybrooke, away from Mary Margaret and the people who are doing nothing but bringing them down, stopping them from finding Robin and Henry. 

Mary Margaret had been on their side in the beginning, had felt David in each of her movements, each of her thoughts, just as Regina had with Robin. Her usually unrelenting faith was faltering though, slipping slowly through the cracks of her broken heart, and though she still had her son, the woman was breaking. Day after day her faith wavered until she had finally snapped, told Regina that there was no getting them back— that David and Robin and Henry were all dead, and that there was no chance of  their return. 

So now it was just her and Roland, set out on Operation Endgame, determined to bring back their family. Storybrooke had tore into their hearts and their spirits day after day until she realized that until her husband and son returned, there was nothing for them there. 

It’s been exactly one year since the Snap, since the population dwindled into its new, lost form— since millions were lost at the hands of an insane man with vengeance in his heart. 

She knew the feeling, that deep pit within her soul that ate at her for years, the need to rip lives apart for some asinine cause. It didn’t sit well with her that she even could  _ compare  _ herself to Thanos, though thankfully she still had Roland. Her ray of sunshine in the darkness, his consistent optimism and joy wrapping itself around her and pulling her out of the sadness and anger that overwhelms her more often than not. 

The memory potion was a fleeting idea at first, though it still haunts her, the thought of wiping her and Roland’s memories clean. It would make things easier, would ease the ache in their hearts, allowing them to start over. She couldn’t do it though. Each time she thought about it, about the ability to just wipe it all away, she pictured Robin’s face, his bright smile and scruff as he laid with her in their bed, wrapped up in one another. She thought about how he smelled, the waft of forest that calmed her nerves and settled her constantly rapid beating heart. Her mind would then flicker to Henry, her sweet boy. He had been her savior, had saved her time and time again, though he didn’t know it. Without him she was nothing, a shell of a woman who so desperately wanted to love. Her memories pushed back all of the times they’d cuddle up together on the couch when he was little, his warm, toddler body snuggled up against his. He used to love all things soft and would play with the strands of her hair, his head resting on her chest as she told him stories of valiant knights whisking in to save the day. 

Robin and Henry had saved her more than either of them realized, and she owes it to them to put her heart in it and get them back. 

Roland’s 7 now, her incredibly bright boy growing more and more each day, his mannerisms shifting to be more like Robin with each thought, and in the way he walks. He’s sneaky and smart, just as his father, his wit coming out with everything he says. He’s still so innocent, and though the last year has changed him, made him too wise for his young age, he’s still her little boy. Coming to New York had been a bit of both of their ideas, something that they decided needed to be done to get their family back. 

It’s late when they finally make it outside of the old apartment, the lights flickering in the hallway as she shifts Roland around to her hip, fiddles with the keys tucked into the side of her duffel and fishes out the dark green one Robin had had made when he lived out here, years ago. 

She puts the key into the lock, shifts it as quietly as she can to unlock it, as to not wake Roland. It’s the first solid nights sleep he’s gotten in a while, the drive tiring him out, and she loathes the thought of waking him. It’s cold in the hallway, a breeze pushing past them from the crack in the window at the end of the hall and she shivers, nudging the apartment door open with her toe, stepping into the long-forgotten place. 

“Don’t move.” 

Her body stops, arm instinctively wrapping around Roland, tugging him closer to her. Her fingers dig into his hip and she feels her other hand shaking, the keys slipping from her palm and clattering against the floor. The tell-tale tingling sensation makes his way down her arm, dark orange hues swirling around at the tips of her fingers. “Who are you?” she asks, her voice steady and calm, a contrast to the pounding in her heart. 

“Who’re you? How did you get into our apartment?” 

The apartment is still dark but she can hear the change in voice. The first had been in front of her, a man’s voice, thick, but the second is lighter, the hint of a true Brooklyn accent coming from beside her.

“Your apartment? This is mine. You’re all trespassing.” 

“This place has been abandoned for years,” the Brooklyn accent says again, this time a step closer. “Your hands are on fire.” 

Regina glances down, looks at the orange and yellow hue slipping from the tips of her fingers, specks of bright flames spinning and swirling around her palms. The glow is illuminating the room but only enough that she can make out the shape of the face of the man in front of her. There’s someone else in the room with them, the breathing coming from her right side very apparent, the scuffle of the person's feet as they shift. 

She lifts her hand and the man behind her steps closer, his body heat radiating, emulating heat waves that she can feel against her own cool skin. He smells… good, like rich coffee and hints of leather, and something a bit stronger. She wants to turn, wants to face the man who dares to stand so close to her but she feels this sense of security with that man, unlike what she feels with the man in front of her. 

“Turn on the lights,” she growls, her magic growing stronger with each passing moment. She wants to do something, freeze them in time,  _ anything _ to give her the upper hand, but the moment she lifts her hands higher the bright fluorescent lights flicker on and she shuts her eyes as the stark contrast to the darkness that had surrounded them only seconds ago. 

They adjust and she opens her eyes, comes face to face with a man easily a foot taller than her. He’s got short blonde hair and scruff against his chin, his broad chest covered only by a black tank top. The man looks like a god, literally, his presence making her uneasy, makes the magic in her palms swirl hues of deep maroon, the little flames shifting rapidly into a fireball. He’s got an axe in his hand, built with steel and wrapped in what looks like vines. He’s closer to her now, towering over her, and she starts to react in a way that only the Evil Queen would approve, when she feels Roland stir against her side. 

“Mom,” he mumbles, shifting his head against her shoulder, his dark curls brushing against her cheek. “S’bright.” 

“I know Roland,” she whispers. “Don’t worry, just close your eyes. They’ll go off soon.” 

He turns his head though and she feels his lashes flutter against her cheek, his eyes carefully opening. She puts the fireball behind her back, not wanting him to see her magic in action if he doesn’t need to witness it, but before she can tell him anything else he lifts his head and lets out a soft “woah.” 

“Mom,” he starts excitedly, “that’s Thor.” 

What? 

She looks up at the man before her, who now looks just as stunned as she is, her head tilting as she takes in his features, thinks back to all of the news she’d seen after the snap of the heroes that were supposed to bring her family back. 

Fuck, it is Thor. 

She turns her head now, looks over her shoulder and sees a dashingly handsome man, like something out of a GQ magazine. He’s got on a tight blue short sleeve and a pair of khaki pants, and before she puts together the man’s stature and the round shield she catches out of the corner of her eye, Roland shrieks and wiggles himself right out her arms, practically shoving her out of the way to stand beneath the man behind her. 

“OH MY!” He shouts, jumping up and down, pointing to the shield and turning back to look at her, spinning back and forth. “That’s, it’s—  _ Mom  _ it’s Captain America!” 

She cups Roland’s shoulder and tugs him back against her legs, presses her hand to his chest to try and quell his excitement. He’s still bouncing though, practically vibrating against her palm, pointing excitedly at the man in front of them. 

“You…” she starts, looking back and forth between the two. The fireball on her palm  “You’re the Avengers.” 

“Two of them,” Captain America smirks. “And then there’s Loki there. I’m Steve Rogers. You’re the owner of this apartment?” 

Regina rolls her eyes, reaches down and collects the keys she’d dropped on her way in. “The one that you’re all squatting in? Yeah, this would be mine.” 

“Apologies,” Thor says and she turns to look at both of them as Captain America shifts himself past them, on the other side of the room. “We needed a place to hide out, somewhere where we could conduct business without snooping eyes. We’d been watching this building for a while now— noticed that there weren't as many people coming in and out, day after day, so my brother snuck into the building and stripped what he could from it, got everyone else to move out. It’s just us now, and apparently you and your son.” 

She turns her head and spots the third man, still at his post against the wall, his thick black hair streaking back and falling against his neck. He’s in all black and reminds her of Gold, a mischievous smirk spreading across his lips. “You’ve a lovely apartment my dear.” 

“Where’ve you been staying at all this time?” 

“Storybrooke!” Roland shouts. He reaches up and wraps his hand around hers, tugging her out of the doorway and further into the apartment. “But my Mom and I want to get my Papa and my brother back, so we came here instead.” 

“Back?” Thor asks. He still hasn’t let go of the axe he’s holding and it makes her nervous, makes her hesitate to follow through in her son’s suit to trust them immediately. The magic flares back up at her palm and she see’s Roland look down, then back up to her face. 

“Yeah,” Roland continues, looking back at the heroes before them. “They got lost when Thanos snapped his fingers. But Mom and I know they’re still alive. We can feel ‘em, right here,” he says, pointing to his heart. “Did you lose people? Do you feel it too?” 

Steve kneels down in front of Roland and she can swear she feels her sons excitement, his body vibrating again. “We do feel it… Roland, isn’t it?” 

He nods, shocked as Steve holds his hand out, taking Roland’s much smaller hand in his own and giving him a firm handshake. “Yeah,” Roland whispers out, his eyes looking down at their joined hands, then rapidly looking up at her. “Mom.” 

“Use your manners, darling.” 

Roland blinks at her once, twice, then shakes his head and looks back at Captain America. “I’m Roland Locksley. This is my Mom, Regina Mills.” 

.::.

Roland is positively  _ obsessed _ with the Avengers. She’d quickly learned that the group of men who had taken over her apartment had been using the building as a make-shift headquarters that would leave them from prying eyes. It was just the three of them— Black Widow had stationed herself at the true Avengers HQ, Hawkeye had been missing since the snap, Hulk was living out his life peacefully and Iron Man had secluded himself away in a cabin in the woods. 

Together Thor and Captain America, or Steve, as she’d learned he preferred, were trying to bring back those that had been lost. They hadn’t made progress, not in the slightest, and though they were trying, a majority of their time was spent looking after Loki, Thor’s conniving brother, making sure that he stayed out of trouble, and out of Thanos’ radar. 

She had presented them with all the information she’d gathered in the past year. With her extensive research, Regina had been able to pinpoint that they weren’t actually gone, officially. The world was built around multiple realms, just as Thor had explained the concept of space and multiple planets. She’d explained to them one night over coffee of her curse, how she had created Storybrooke in an attempt to seek her own personal happiness, just as Thanos had done with the snap— though she was now able to admit her plan was much less life-threatening and violent. 

“You’re quite more wicked than you let on,” Loki told her. She still didn’t trust him, wasn’t exactly sure how he fit into the do-good positivity that Thor and Steve emulated with each of their thoughts and actions, but she’s found herself grateful for his sass and quick-wittedness. 

He’s freakishly good with Roland, as well. While she and the other two men had taken to spending their days scouring over notes, comparing what they’d found and determining what was relevant and what wasn’t, Loki and Roland had taken a keen interest in one another. 

They played pranks constantly, Loki taking his time to teach Roland all of the tricks he had up his sleeve. It was so refreshing hearing her boy laugh like that. The smile that had quickly faded was starting to return, becoming more permanently etched across his little cheeks day after day. He loved following Loki around, would wake up each morning and sneak out of bed, trying desperately to get a one-up on the mischievous villain, but he’s not been successful yet. Roland calls Loki his best friend now, spends his days with the trickster and his dog, learning all the tricks of the trade. 

The leaves on the trees are slowly shifting from green to orange as fall sets in, the New York chill circulating through the winds. She had thought that by now they would have made some progress, and though teaming up with Thor and Steve has been beneficial, they’re missing something to their plan. 

A plan that seems too good to be true, something that is quite possibly  _ impossible,  _ but with their combined minds, and the minds of some friends that Thor swears by, though they have yet to come around, she’s convinced that this is their best hope. 

Time travel. 

When Steve had mentioned it first, she thought he was daft. The concept of realm-hopping had been difficult enough, even with the magic beans from the beanstalk. But time travel? It’s impossible. It’s throwing a rock into perfectly still water, watching as the ripples cause a disruption in the serenity. 

It’s what she tries explaining to them, but they’re men, stupid and stubborn, and they don’t listen. 

“We have a guy,” Steve insists, writing notes furiously in his notebook late one night. Loki and Roland have retired to the bedroom to watch a movie, and Thor’s been gone for days, back at headquarters collecting supplies and new news from Black Widow. 

“What do you mean you ‘have a guy’?” Regina asks. She’s laid back on the couch, her eyes focused up on the stained ceiling, her hands resting behind her head. It amazes her now, how comfortable she’s gotten with these ridiculous buff idiots over the last few months, but they’re growing on her. They’re like her brothers now, throwing jabs at her left and right, adapting her and Roland into their makeshift family like they’ve been there all along. They all have one common goal though, to get their loved ones back, and by combining their intelligence, this was the only thing they’d come up with. 

“Have you heard of Ant-Man?” 

“Ant-Man?” Regina asks, sitting up on the couch, her eyes rolling. “Like, ant? As in ‘I pick up tiny specks of dirt and carry them around on my back because I’m super strong for my petite size’ kind of ant? No, I can't say I have.” 

Steve chuckles, leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “His name’s Scott Lang. When Stark and I had our falling out, Scott joined me and the team. He works with the Pyms.” 

“As in Pym particles?” Regina asks, sitting up. “I read about them in one of my articles. Hold—” she makes out, scrambling up off the couch and moving toward her own make-shift desk on the kitchen counter. “Here it is. ‘Hank Pym, whose groundbreaking research with subatomic particles has allowed him to alter the size of organic and inorganic materials.’” She turns back to Steve, who had this ridiculously smug grin spread across his face. “So you mean to tell me that Ant-Man…” 

“Can shrink. And grow too, actually, to this massive size. It’s fascinating.” 

“This from the man who was put into a machine and injected with some super-serum to make him this big hero.” 

Steve shrugs and laughs. “When you really think about it, all of this is so absurd and not plausible in any situation, and yet here we are. A superhero, a God, a trickster, and a sorceress, come together to defeat a mutant superhuman.”

Regina laughs, makes her way across the room and back to the couch. “So then, where do we find this Ant-Man?” 

.::.

The Pym Residence is fasticating. 

The large old house is nestled safely on a beach, away from most of civilization, and she adores the reclusiveness of it, the serenity and sanctuary of being by the ocean. Thor had gotten in touch with Lang and told him that they needed help with the original geniuses themselves about finding a way into the Quantum Realm. 

Roland and Quill are  _ thrilled _ to be on the beach, rushing around in rapid circles, bouncing back and forth between the sand and water. The dog’s hated being cooped up in the apartment recently, constantly scratching at the door, hoping for an outing to the park, so this was exactly   

As a group they make their way up to the door, Steve stepping up first to rap his hand against the hardwood. 

It takes a moment, and then there’s some banging, and the sound of a man’s voice yelling “Gimme a second!” and suddenly the doors swings open. 

The man behind the door looks… disheveled, at best. He’s in a pair of dark gray sweatpants and a navy shirt that has a stain on the front, and thought he doesn’t look as put together as she’s been used to with Steve and Thor, and even Loki, in his dashing black suits, Steve doesn’t seem alarmed, or even concerned. 

“Hey! You guys made it!” Scott grins, looking around at each of them. “Who else do we have here?” 

“Regina Mills,” she says, stepping forward and holding her hand out. “My son Roland’s out there with his dog.”

The man takes her hand and shakes it, his grin never faltering. “Scott Lang. I’m the Ant-Man. Haven’t seen you around much though, are you on the team?” 

“Regina’s a sorceress,” Thor cuts in, brushing past Scott and into the house. “Where’s that girlfriend of yours? She’s the smart one here.” 

A woman steps out from a kitchen as they come into the house dressed in workout clothes, her hair swept up in a ponytail at the top of her head. She takes a swig from the bottle of water she has in her hand and brushes past Thor, shooting him a glare. “No need to be snarky, thunder God,” the woman quips back, and Regina chuckles. 

She feels a bit like she’s watching a sitcom, sitting back as they make their way into the house, Scott and Hope, as she’s picked up, talking quickly with Steve and Thor about things that have nothing to do with defeating Thanos. 

She finds herself more interested in the vast bookshelf in the home, her fingertips tracing over the spines of the old, dusty books, different scientific journals on the concepts of quantum technology, the shrinking of man, and time travel. 

“My father was brilliant,” Hope says, sneaking up quietly behind Regina. “He and my mother worked together to discover all of this science behind the quantum realm. I’d just gotten her back when Thanos snapped.” 

Regina turns, eyeing the woman carefully. “You lost your parents?” 

Hope nods, pointedly avoiding Regina’s gaze, her hands tracing over one book, over and over. 

“Who’d you lose?” 

She tells Hope about Robin and Henry, and quickly recaps her on the journey that’s brought them out here to California. It’s getting easier, day after day, thinking about Henry and Robin, talking about them with people that she doesn’t quite know as well, people that didn’t know them at all. Roland’s much better at telling stories about them— the young boy’s inherited his father’s natural charisma and loves talking about the adventures they’d gone on— but she tries her best, gives Hope a run-through of the family she craves to see once more. 

The two women stand in silence for a moment, both lost in the thought of the families they’d lost, before Regina sucks in a breath and speaks up again. 

“Do you think this time travel thing is going to work?” 

Hope turns to her and smirks, pulling out a dusty book off of the shelf, brushing off the front cover. “When I was a little girl, my father created the Ant-Man suit. He’d developed one for my mother too, called her the Wasp. They were a fantastic duo and then one day, they had to go on a mission. My mother was trapped in the Quantum Realm for most of my adult life. It took us years to come up with the technology to figure out how to get her out, and even then, we had no idea what the ramifications would be in the end. It’s…” Hope trails, staring at the book in her hands. “Having her back, just to lose them both again…” she stops once more. They’re silent for a moment before she looks up, staring right into Regina’s eyes. “It has to work. The quantum realm is messy, and there’s a lot of risky logistics behind it. But, even so, it has to work. There aren’t any other options here.” 

Regina nods, looks up and out the large, round window looking out over the mountains. “Well then, let’s do this.” 

The next week goes by in a blur. 

She thought they were ready, that with Scott and Hope, they’d be able to travel back through the realm and find the infinity stones, get some sort of glove that replicated Thanos’ and snap, they could return, back to the lives they missed. But there was another piece missing, one that worried all of them, unsure of whether or not Iron Man would be willing to rejoin the cause. 

Trying to convince him was practically impossible. He’s snarky, and egotistical, and she doesn’t understand why he’s so insistent that this isn't his fight. They all have lost someone in this, and Tony Stark can get his pompous ass up off of his remote island, and he can help them save the world. 

And she’s the one to tell him just that, to his face. 

He’s astonished, surprised at her bluntness and her impatience, but she can see a sly grin on his face, and knows very well that he’s listened to her. 

And thankfully, he’s in. 

.::.

She’s not going to time travel with them. 

Steve had offered it up, even insisted that she’d be a brilliant asset to the team, so long as her magic works outside this realm. 

It should, and it does, but the mere risk of leaving Roland without both of his parents grounds her. She can’t do that to him, can’t allow for her son to be orphaned when there’s no real reason she has to go and work with them. 

Her, Roland and Quill join them at the Avengers headquarters though, stand by and watch as each of them don their Quantum Realm suits and stand in the time portal. 

It seems surreal that this is it. The moment they all leave determines the fate of whether or not their family returned, and all of the other lost souls that are trapped out there. Regina decides they’re going to wait here for their hopeful return. Roland’s amiss to see his new friends go, and someone’s got to watch over Loki while everyone else goes into the portal and gets the stones back. 

Right before they leave Steve turns back to her and gives her a wink, then glances down. She sees the pocket watch with Peggy’s photo in it, his own lost love, and she smiles at him and gives him a wink back. 

They’ve got this. 

-

They’re back in seconds. 

They’ve retrieved all of the stones but at the loss of one of their own. Nat is gone, sacrificing herself for the rest of them, for all of the lives lost, and it sits heavy in her heart long after their heroic return, knowing that the one woman who continuously fought for all of their safety gave the ultimate price. 

It takes a few days before Tony is able to finish the glove and in that time, she decides where she and Roland need to be when this happens. 

They pack up their things and bid goodbye to their friends, Roland spending a longer amount of time with Loki, his new mischievous pal. She spends time thanking Steve for everything he’s done for them, the hope that he restored back into their lives. It’s bittersweet, the time that they’ve spent together, the way that their paths have crossed. It’s refreshing to her, seeing that even the true heroes that were supposed to save the galaxy have their own faults. She’s not a villain anymore, not in the slightest, and being with them has only served to reinforce her ideals that not everyone is inherently good, even the Avengers. 

With magic she transports them back to Storybrooke, back to the park where this all started. Hulk is going to try and snap them back within the next hour, so they post themselves up on a blanket, curled up in their warm clothing to ward off the February chill. It’s the 14th, Valentines Day, the day that hopefully her other two loves will return back into her life and she can finally find peace once more. 

Roland is running around with Quill, throwing the ball for the not-so-little dog, so different from the new puppy that had been introduced to the park just a year and a half before. 

The sun is shining overhead and she soaks in the rays, leaning back in the grass, watching as her youngest plays with his pup, when the world shakes beneath her. 

There’s a flash of bright light, causing her to shut them tightly, the feeling of wind gusting around them, her hair sweeping up off of the nape of her neck. The light dims and she opens her eyes back up, lets them fall upon Henry and Robin, standing before her in disbelief. 

“Oh god.” 

Before she can even get to her feet she hears Roland’s little cheer, watches as her son darts across the grass and launches himself at his brother and his Dad. 

Robin bends down to scoop up his son, reaching his other arm out to tug Henry against his body, pressing kisses to the top of the boys head, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.  

She’s standing now, doesn’t even really remember the process of her legs moving to lift her up in the first place. 

She can’t believe it’s real, that they’re standing in front of her, back after all this time. She’s almost afraid to walk over, to wrap her arms around them and feel them in her arms once again, but her feet carry her across the grass before she can stop herself, until she’s finally there. 

“Mom!” Henry shouts, worming his way out of Robin’s arms and into hers. Her arms come up, tightly wrap around her son, her nose burying in his hair as she breathes him in, recalls all of the memories of him as a little baby, curled up against her chest as she rocked him to sleep. 

She can’t stop the tears from falling now, pressing kisses to the top of his head, whispering how much she loves him, how much she’s missed him over and over. When she looks up Robin’s still cradling Roland in his arms but his eyes are on her, glossy with unshed tears. 

“Hi,” he chokes out, reaching a hand out to take hers. 

Regina looks down at their joined hands, the feeling of his palm warm and firm against her own, contrast to the dust she’d felt just a year before. 

“Hi,” she whispers, tugging him towards her. 

Henry lets go of her, works his way out of her arms and tugs Roland down out of Robin’s, immensely excited about the now full-sized dog running around at their feet, and she steals her moment with her fiance. 

Robin’s got her in his arms in seconds, his hands carding though her thick, jet black hair, burying his face into her neck. She can feel him breathe her in, his lips peppering kisses over her neck, her cheeks, and then finally her lips. 

She parts her own and takes him in, bumping her nose against his own, her fingers tracing over his cheeks before cupping them, holding him to her. 

“I’ve missed you,” she whispers when they break the kiss, her forehead pressed against his. 

It’s just like when they were at the town line, just before he kissed her goodbye and let their hands fall away. 

It’s not the same though because he’s back, here in front of her and very,  _ very  _ real. 

He kisses her again, quick and fleeting before tugging her close and wrapping her up in his arms, just holding her, whispering how much he loves her, how much he’s missed her. 

Regina can hear their sons laughing in the background, Quill’s barks echoing against the wind, and the feel of her fiance in her arms, and she knows that this is it. 

She finally has her family back home.  


End file.
